The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) will deploy about 250 flying squads to keep a check on malpractices during HSC and SSC examinations, scheduled to start from February 21 and March 1, respectively.

Around 13.46 lakh students will appear for HSC examination, while more than 17 lakh will write SSC test.
Both the exams conclude on March 28. The SSC students will have to appear for combined examination for 'Science and Technology' subject for paper I and II in the same day.

"Earlier, paper I and paper II were held on separate days but this year onwards, the examination for these papers will be held on the same day and students will be given separate answer sheets," said MSBSHSE chairperson Sarjerao Jadhav.

The state board, which has recently opened up its ninth divisional board in the state for Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri districts in the Konkan region, has registered more than 74,000 students from the new division.

Also, the SSC students who will have to appear for Information Communication Technology (ICT), which has been made mandatory from this year, will be exempted from writing vocational course paper. The test is conducted by Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Limited.